Sleaford Mods, Manchester Academy, 17th November 2021

Sleaford Mods are a marmite band aren’t they. A packed out Manchester Academy proves that many love them, but they do attract a lot of stick. They’re the band your dad says ‘Isn’t proper music’. Just because there’s only two of them on a pretty large stage. One pressing a button on a laptop that kicks off the backing track, who then simply nods along as the other spits aggressive lyrics over the top. That’s the genius though. Andrew Fearne creates some beautifully crafted beats. They’re sparse, clean and provide enough drive to not need anything else. Besides they’re bassy as fuck. They’re the foundation of Sleaford Mods, anything else really just wouldn’t work. It provides Jason Williamson the space to twist his lyrics and delivery however he chooses. There’s tons of freedom. Like it could be all ad-libbed. It’s not, as the crowd singing along proves, bouncing around, punching the air, hard fought for beer flying. Jason has a lot of opinions and is keen to share. “I don’t think there’s anything wrong with anger. Very positive emotion”. He’s the focus, preening and stalking, arm behind back wrestling the mic, while Andrew looks the epitome of cool bobbing around in the ample smoke, that plays havoc with my camera’s focus. Jason’s putting a shift in. A torrent of Anti-culture and sweat. He seems genuinely happy to be out on this, the first night of the tour and Manchester is very happy to have them. I don’t usually approve of covers, but their take on Yazoo’s Don’t Go is brilliant and forgivable as the play pretty much everything I want to hear. I guess that’s beauty of being time controlled by a backing track, you know exactly how to pace a set. They’re brilliant to watch live and although I’m not going to declare love, I do love them a lot more than marmite. Foul stuff.